At 8:30 that night, I sat in a rickety wooden chair beside the living room window that overlooks the aspen grove at the front of the house, waiting to hear from Aiden. The house was dark inside and the silver light from the full moon illuminated the trees, making the aspens’ stark black markings even more apparent against their snow-white bark. No matter how many times I regarded those trees, the markings would always remind me of ominous black eyes; the same eyes that silently watched me the first day I awoke, alone in the house.
Beside me on the table, the phone buzzed. I picked it up to look at Aiden’s message.
Just about ready over here. All set?
Yep. I’ll meet you at the coffee shop in 15.
Slipping on my black leather jacket, I stepped outside into the cool, clear night. I was greeted by a cacophony of crickets as I jogged over to my bike on the side of the house. As I strapped on my helmet, I suddenly felt nervous.
What if the files aren’t there? And if they are, will they say something terrible? Like my family just didn’t want me anymore? Or worse, I gulped, what if they don’t tell me anything useful at all? …Then all of this will have been for nothing.
I shook my head, trying to clear the clamor of my own thoughts. Focusing on one moment at a time – an exercise I had years ago adopted when my anxiety flared up – I straddled my bike, then kicked off into the darkness, the bike’s singular white headlight narrowly illuminating the tree-lined road ahead. I flipped open the face guard to breathe in the crisp night air, then leaned forward as the bike accelerated towards town. My only hope, the only thing I would worry about that evening, was to find answers… and I was determined to get them.
When I got to the café – the same café where Aiden had first told me what we were – I parked my bike around the back, then headed for the parking lot, my helmet safely tucked under my arm. I saw the headlights of Aiden’s Jeep turning into the lot then, so I jogged the rest of the way to his car.
“Lovely evening for a break-in,” Aiden greeted me as I slid into the passenger seat.
“Perhaps when we’re done, we can make a quick pit stop to rob a bank?” I suggested as I buckled my seatbelt.
“Right after we hotwire a couple of expensive cars,” Aiden said, pulling the stick-shift into reverse. I watched somewhat enviously. As far as I was aware, I didn’t know how to drive a stick. But then again, I had never tried.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as we pulled onto the main road towards the highway.
“Nervous,” I admitted.
“About what we’re going to do, or about what we might find?”
“Both.”
We drove in silence for a few minutes then. A song was faintly coming through the car’s speakers. I leaned forward to turn up the radio. It was some sort of hard rock song; the singer had a rough, gravelly voice that crowed over a cool-sounding guitar riff.
“Sorry,” Aiden raised his voice over the music. “My taste in music is fairly eclectic. Feel free to change it to whatever you’d like.”
“I think it’s good,” I said, turning it up louder. Aiden glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. He looked surprised. Perhaps a little amused, too. The singer’s voice belted through the speakers.
Another change is coming
A separation from defiant
To self-reliant baby
I feel the weather breaking
It's turning rain into fire
To take it higher baby
With blind eyes open
wide…
I'm seeing it!
“Appropriate song,” I mused when it was over, turning the radio back down. “I like it.”
Aiden chuckled. “She’s a Godsmack fan! Who would’ve guessed?”
“I should go buy a compact CD player with part of my Asterian bribe money. Those are battery-operated, right? Do you think Godsmack still makes CDs?”
Aiden laughed. Loudly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Aspen, but despite the fact that I’ve got nearly seven years on you, sometimes you make me feel like the younger one in this relationship.” I could feel myself blush – but I had to admit, he did make a valid point. “I haven’t frequented a Sam Goody’s in years but if there’s still one in existence, we’ll find it and go, okay?”
“Could we also head to the electronics store to pick up a Betamax video player?”
Aiden hesitated, seemingly unsure about whether I was joking or not.
“Oh, come on, I’m not that behind the times,” I laughed, accidentally letting out a loud snort. Mortified, I abruptly stopped mid-snort and consequently started coughing, which only made Aiden burst into laughter.
“Can you try to be a little less funny while I’m going seventy on the highway on-ramp?” he managed to gasp between laughs.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry for being hilarious,” I apologized, my voice solemn.
He snickered and was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again. “On a more serious note, if you don’t mind, what exactly is the plan for breaking into the records room? I seriously doubt they’ll just re-use the same entry code throughout the building.”
“Don’t worry, I have that covered.” I replied confidently.
Aiden frowned slightly. “And if we’re caught?”
I shrugged. “Savannah never explicitly said that the Fourth Floor was off limits to me. If we’re caught, I’ll just play dumb and apologize profusely.” Aiden glanced over at me doubtfully, but said nothing more.
After fifteen more minutes of nervous banter and a handful of corny jokes to lighten the mood, we arrived at Pierce Street, parking under a streetlight across the street from the old brick building. My palms were sweaty.
“Are you absolutely sure you want to come with me?” I asked abruptly as Aiden was opening his door to get out of the car. He turned around to give me a serious look. I was biting my lip, nervously.
“Aspen, I spent my entire adolescence and young adult life thinking that this… Community… was some sort of haven. But then I saw things – things that disturbed me; things that made me wonder what their actual motive in this world is. Worse, at the time, I saw my family splinter apart as their priorities became less about each other and more about the Asterian Order. So yes, I’m more than sure. It’s time I stop avoiding this place and start getting some answers of my own,” he replied.
“About your family?” I asked.
“That, and a few other things,” he answered cryptically, getting out of the car.
I frowned slightly, then followed suit, quietly shutting the car door behind me.
The streetlight above the gate was out, so Aiden used his phone as a flashlight while I keyed in the six-digit entry code. The gate swung open, creaking slightly. Looking up, I could see some thin slivers of light peeking through heavy drapes on the ground level and first floor, but the rest of the windows looked completely dark. We headed down the long narrow sidewalk to the front door, where I pressed my magnetic badge against the card receiver. The door clicked open and we stepped inside. The bright lights in the lobby were still on, along with the marble fountain, which was shooting decorative arcs of water across a blue, glittering pool.
“I’ll never understand the deliberate pretentiousness of this organization,” Aiden muttered quietly, regarding the marble columns and floors.
“I think trivia night might still be going on upstairs,” I whispered. “Let’s get to the stairs before someone sees us here. I’m really not in the mood for more beer-related party tricks.”
Aiden paused to give me a quizzical look, but quickly fell into step next to me as I headed for the corridor with the elevators. Just past them was the door to the stairwell; I pushed open the heavy door with my shoulder and we hurried inside. Our footsteps thudded on the concrete steps as we headed up to the fourth floor. My heart was racing, though only partially from the exercise. I snuck a glance over at Aiden; he looked tense. When we got to the steel door of the records room, he turned to look at me expectantly.
I pressed my hand against the electronic keypad to the right of the door; I could feel a mild electrical current buzzing behind the box under my palm. I concentrated on the current, focusing all my nervous energy on it. It grew lively beneath my hand, energetic and animated; the fluorescent light above me fluttered. As I narrowed my eyes in concentration, the current surged with power – I yanked my hand away just in time as the keypad sizzled and threw bright, hot sparks, leaving the plaster wall around the outside of it singed and smoking.
“Well, that was… effective,” Aiden blinked.
I took out my plastic security card and slid it between the door and the metal frame, trying to catch the latch. After a moment, it caught, and I swung the handle down triumphantly.
“They really should beef up their security measures,” I muttered drily, reaching to pull open the door. Before I could, Aiden put a hand on my arm.
“Aspen,” he said softly, “before we go in there, I just want to say…” He faltered for a moment, searching for words. I reached my hand up to touch his cheek. He clasped my wrist, kissing the inside of it. My already-racing heart skipped a beat.
“Whatever happens, whatever you find in there… Just remember, everything is going to be okay,” he finished, pressing his lips against the inside of my wrist once more. I took a step towards him and stood on my toes, wrapping my arms around his neck. He gently took my face in his hands, then leaned down to kiss me deeply. My knees nearly buckled from the sensation of his soft, warm lips pressing against mine. Without warning, the fluorescent light above us surged brightly, then burst, casting that section of the stairwell in darkness.
“Oops,” I murmured softly against his lips.
“We really need to stop meeting under fluorescent lights,” he whispered back. I quickly kissed him again, then took a deep breath and turned to pull the handle. The entire fourth floor was dark, save for two buzzing green exit signs behind us and above a door in front of us. Aiden turned on the flashlight on his phone again and shone it across the wide, open room.
There were three dark offices on the left side of the floor; the doors were shut and the blinds on all the windows were pulled down. The rest of the three walls were completely covered by black, floor-to-ceiling filing cabinets. There had to have been hundreds of drawers, I realized bleakly. But there, in the center of the large room, was a small computer, sitting atop a plain, white desk.
I strode over to it and moved the mouse, waking up the screen. A simple search bar appeared on an otherwise-blue background. Aiden walked over to quietly stand behind me as I typed “F-U-L-M-A-N” into the search bar, then clicked the magnifying glass beside it. The search bar disappeared as a new window popped up, displaying the number “87”.
“That must be the drawer the file is kept in,” Aiden whispered behind me. I nodded, heading to the wall in front of us. He remained at the desk, holding up his flashlight for me so I could see. A single lightbulb was dangling by a chain in front of that section of file drawers, so I clicked it on, casting the area in a dim yellow light. I scanned the white numbers, tracing my fingers across the fronts of the drawers, while Aiden dropped the beam of light to the desk and began typing something into the computer behind me.
84…85…86…My fingers stopped on the handle of a drawer near the ground. Kneeling in front of it, I hesitated. My heart was racing faster than it ever had before. I took a few deep breaths, then slowly pulled the drawer open; there were a dozen or so files inside. Behind me, Aiden was striding across the room to open a different file drawer a few yards away. I heard the click of a lightbulb over to my right. Resting on my knees, I quickly thumbed through the files in the open drawer in front of me. Foster… Foye… Fuentes… Fujiwara… My breath caught in my throat.
Fulman.
Hands shaking, I carefully removed the thick black file and sat on the ground as I opened it. My eyes quickly scanned the first page under the dim light of the single incandescent lightbulb hanging above me.
Fulman, David (H/III) – Flagged, See Supplemental File(s)
Date of Birth: December 9, 1966
Place of Birth: richmond, va
Abilities: Hydromancer, Level III
Spouse: Elizabeth (A/III, El/III) Fulman (Flagged, See file)
Known Children: Rowan (π/?) Fulman (Flagged, See file)
Parents: Katherine (T/II) Fulman, Deceased 1983 (See file); Donald (P/III) Fulman, Deceased 2010 (See file)
Occupation: officer, class III - Security and Containment Division: D.C.
Home Chapter: Washington, D.C.
I felt faint at the onslaught of information; I reminded myself to breathe as I hurriedly flipped the page over to read my father’s supplemental file. To my right, I heard Aiden shuffling through papers of his own. Mesmerized by the information in my hand, I hastily continued reading.
Supplemental Notes – Summary Page
- David Fulman was gainfully employed in the D.C. chapter from 1987-2000. After several years in a supporting role, he was promoted to officer in 1993; attained Class-III classification and highest security clearance on June 10, 1998. Exemplary record; no history of disciplinary actions throughout employment history.
- On August 6, 2000, David and his wife, Elizabeth (also stationed as high-clearance in the D.C. S&C division - see accompanying file) abruptly abandoned their posts without notice and left the state (unauthorized) with their child, Rowan, age six (suspected Polymantic abilities - see accompanying file).
- A detailed search, headed by D.C. S&C Division Head, Terrance (Terry) Lawson (P/III, A/II), was conducted. Special containment units were deployed, given the nature of the Fulmans’ security clearances; however, the investigation yielded no satisfactory leads and would continue to remain cold despite ongoing, active inquests.
- On January 11, 2014, David and his wife were rumored to have been sighted in Sacramento, CA, however multiple attempts to track them down were unsuccessful. Undercover units were sent to nearby state and private colleges in an attempt to find the daughter, who may have been enrolled close by.
- They resurfaced again in Sacramento on February 2, 2015 after a tip was provided by family friend and S&C Officer (I), Edward (Ted) Nichols (P/II, T/II). By executive command, five procurement units were deployed within the hour.
- One week later, on February 9, 2015, David and Elizabeth were eventually tracked down in Denver, CO after being apprehended by local Chapter officials. A peaceful confrontation was attempted after a local task force was deployed to their location, however their public resistance resulted in the need for critical measures. During the subsequent interrogation, it was determined that their daughter, Rowan, aged 20 at the time, had undergone unauthorized neuro-electrocution, which was wittingly administered by her mother, Elizabeth.
- Rowan remained undetected until she was traced to a remote cabin in the county of Jefferson County, CO; listed as owned by Donald (P/III) and Evelyn (--) Fulman. Due to the fully-repressed nature of Rowan’s, a.k.a. Aspen’s, prior memories and abilities, she was flagged as ‘Do Not Contact’ and put under passive watch; however, on April 5, 2018, she was positively identified as using unauthorized Auromantic abilities against a non-Elemental civilian. Recruitment efforts as of April 6 are underway, headed by Savannah Clarke, Regional Aggregator. Special attention is being paid to Rowan’s Elemental abilities, which have been previously-noted as above-average and likely-Polymantic.
- David Fulman is currently presumed deceased (see accompanying interrogation records). Rowan’s only other known surviving (non-biological) relative is her deceased grandfather’s wife, Evelyn, a non-Elementalist who is also currently under passive watch.
I let the thick file drop to the floor. My heart felt as though it had stopped in my chest. The world itself was crumbling beneath me. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even fully piece together the information I had just read; it was just too much to comprehend in that moment. Vaguely, I registered the sound of Aiden’s voice coming from the other side of the room, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying. The only sound I could hear was a shrill, high-pitched ringing in my ears.
“Aspen!” Aiden whispered frantically, crouching in front of me. He was shaking my shoulders. My eyes slowly rolled up to meet his. “I heard footsteps from the stairwell, someone’s coming. We have—”
Just then, his sentence was cut off by the sound of the stairwell door banging open.